Escape
by desert anbu
Summary: KaneOC oneshot. Escape can mean running from a place of imprisonment to freedom, but it can also mean leaving terror behind and finding comfort.


OMG I'm so sorry this took so friggin' long, Li! I had writer's block for so long, and then I was also so busy with other crap… But that still doesn't excuse the fact that this took so long… *is enormously annoyed with herself* I'm so sorry!

Anyway, this is a gift for **lei-sun-yuet** (I keep forgetting her penname on this site ^^;) 'cause she's awesome and won a contest on DeviantART and since I'm the administrator, I give out prizes. XD She chose to have a short story romance featuring her character Kami. If you haven't already, you gotta check out Li's art, she's so awesome! Here's the link (just remove the spaces):  http:// lei-sun-yuet. deviantart. com/

I'm not entirely happy with the way it turned out, but I rather like the end… So I guess… *scratches head* Aw damn… If you don't like it, I can give you something else, okay?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kane or the Psykicks or whatever, they belong to whoever created Beyblade (I have yet to remember who that is) and Kami belongs to **lei-sun-yuet**. I just own the plot. ^^

Enjoy!

_************_

_Escape_

_By Midnight Insanity_

_************_

Kane gasped for breath and pressed his back against the wall, straining to hear any approaching footsteps. His thundering heart threatened to burst in his chest, and the pain in his side wasn't helping much, either.

Inwardly he cursed his bad luck as well as Salima's warning that his plan to escape was impossible anyway. Now that he had succeeded in running past the inner corridors of the laboratory, the nagging in the back of his mind – which annoyed the hell out of him because it took on the redheaded girl's voice – told him quite matter-of-factly that what he was doing was stupid.

The fifteen-year-old bluenette gritted his teeth in agitation and turned, forcing his legs to carry him at a swift run, his boots hardly making a sound as they struck the floor. The stitch in his side only grew worse with every breath he took, but he kept running.

Shouts from nearby brought him to a skidding halt and slammed him up against the wall, struggling to hear just what they were saying. Gruff voices barked orders that were immediately followed. Sharp clicks made the breath catch in his throat as realization dawned on him.

They don't care if they catch me dead or alive… 

Fear tore through his entire body, leaving him trembling and paralyzed, eyes wide and darting everywhere, searching for anything that could present a threat. _How the hell am I going to get out of here?_

Kane's fingers slid along the wall and suddenly it gave in, causing him to fall over backward with a yelp of surprise. He fell in an ungraceful heap on the floor, his rear smarting and his elbow hurting more than he cared to admit. Face contorted in a grimace of pain, he looked up to see that the door – if it could be called that – was already closing with a soft click, almost immediately followed by the lights flickering on all around him.

"Never thought of you as the type to run when things got tough," a cold voice stated from somewhere to his left.

Kane whipped his head around to see a girl that he had met two years ago and had never said more than ten words to her since. Long, unruly cobalt hair cascaded haphazardly down her back from its high ponytail, her thick bangs shadowing her dark eyes and the wraps that were tied behind her head, covering her brow. She wore a black collar around her neck, a dark blue tank top and a pair of loose black pants, the one hand that he could see (her arms were crossed over her chest) was adorned in a black fingerless glove, something of a trademark of hers. Her back was against the wall, her stance calm and her expression entirely void of any emotion.

"Normally I wouldn't, but desperate times call for desperate measures," he said darkly, pushing himself to his feet and quickly looking around the room only to find that they were alone. The fact that he didn't recognize the room at all somehow didn't surprise him.

The girl opened one eye to regard him through thick lashes, one eyebrow lifted in mild amusement. "So you run. What, can't handle the pressure?" Her lips curled into a condescending smirk and she lifted her head to look him directly in the eye.

_What the…_ Kane shook his head, anger flowing through his veins as her words and the words of those he had trusted ran through his mind. "Do you even know what's happening out there?" he demanded, eyes narrowed as he threw his arm out to indicate the door that he had come through. "Do you have any _idea_ what's going on?"

The girl snorted, tilting her head back and closing her eyes once more. "Just the guards running around trying to catch an escaping Psykick, that's all."

"Dammit, Kami! Jim is _dead!_"

Kami's eyes snapped open and she stared at him, stared at his trembling form as rage and pain and fear warred for dominance in his eyes, as the loss of a friend began taking its toll on his mind and allowed a single tear to slide down his cheek. When she finally spoke, her voice was just above a whisper, her tone suggesting that she desperately wanted to believe this wasn't true. "How?"

Kane spat on the floor in disgust and clenched his fists, willing the tears to remain where they were. "They found him no longer useful and killed him." His hands shook as he slammed a fist into the wall, not seeming to notice the flesh on his knuckles splitting and the warm, thick liquid that slowly began dripping down his fingers. "We're just a bunch of lab rats… They keep us while we're useful and as soon as we're not they kill us."

Kami stared at him in shock, not even bothering to doubt a single thing that he had told her. Kane wasn't the type to lie. "That would explain a lot of things," she murmured, her eyes drifting toward the door.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ever see the recruits that failed before us?" She tilted her head to catch his expression and upon seeing it, she nodded once and said absently, "Thought so."

Kane grabbed her arm as she began walking toward the door and snapped, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Kami leveled him with a cold glare and calmly pried his fingers from her arm. "It means, that-"

There was a loud crash on the other side of the door and both teens stared as they realized that it was being forced open. Kane cursed under his breath and frantically searched the room for another exit, but Kami was already ahead of him.

The heel of her black boot slammed against one of the ventilation ducts on the far corner of the room and the sound was enough to bring Kane's attention to her just as she slid inside. Almost immediately she disappeared from sight only to reappear and give him an annoyed look. "Are you coming or not?"

The sound of creaking metal was enough motivation for him and he ran, falling and sliding in after her, not having time to pull the door closed as the entrance to the room burst open.

One minute they were crawling through the air ducts and the next the floor opened up beneath them and they were falling. A scream lodged itself in his throat and his shoulder hit the side, sending lances of sharp pain throughout his entire body. Something warm began spreading over his back but he didn't have time to figure out what this meant before his feet struck the ground and he collapsed, pain reverberating through his entire body.

"Get up!" Kami hissed, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. She had known that the drop had existed, but she had never gone down it before. Tendrils of cobalt silk clung to her face and shoulders, creating spiraling patterns over her skin. "What the-" Her words died en route to her lips when she saw the spreading crimson stain on his left shoulder and the grimace on his face.

A shout rang through the room they had fallen into and Kami started, whipping her head around, causing her long hair to strike her arms and face with unforgiving cruelty. _Dammit! They're too close!_ Torn between loyalty and life-long training, she bit her lip, battling her conscience and mind. The strong urges that told her to run seemed primal, an instinct, but another part of her rebelled. _Fuck it._

"Can you walk?"

Kane lifted his head and gave her a slight smile. "Probably."

"Well you're going to have to run."

*  *  *

"Are you going to tell me why you're helping me, or do I just have to wonder and never know?"

Kami glared at him and decided to ignore what he had just said, instead concentrating on moving quickly despite the fact that she had become Kane's impromptu crutch. He had lost too much blood from the wound on his shoulder and even when she had removed her headband to at least try and stop the bleeding, it continued to pull what remained of his energy out of his body.

Dark eyes scanned the contents of the hallway before she pulled Kane into the nearest room, shutting the door silently behind her. Letting go of him for a moment, she flung open one of the lockers and pulled out a shirt, not even hesitating before she tore off the arms and then the rest, creating long strips of clean cloth that became a growing pile on the floor.

"Sit," she commanded, bringing the impromptu bandages with her as she knelt beside him and removed the soiled cloth from his shoulder, trying her hardest not to notice the toned chest and back that lay open to her gaze. She worked as quickly and as painlessly as she could, her fingers deftly pulling the bandages taut over his smooth skin. She knew that he was watching her, wincing every once in a while when she was too rough, but chose to ignore it.

A muffled yell sounded from outside the room and both teens froze.

"Where the fuck did they – hey! Did you see that brat?"

The reply was lost in the sudden bang that sounded from the door and Kane jumped, his body trembling with fear. _They're too close…!_

Kami turned back to her work and her fingers practically flew as she finished tying the bandage, but her hand slipped and struck the wound, causing Kane to stiffen and open his mouth to let out a cry of pain. Acting on instinct, Kami cut off his cry by crushing her mouth to his, causing the sound to be swallowed in his mouth as he choked and his eyes flew wide open in astonishment.

_Just trust me,_ she pleaded, brushing her tongue against his to distract him from the pain of his wound. She felt him slowly begin to relax and when she was satisfied that he wouldn't make a sound, she reluctantly pulled away.

"Because you're the only one of those idiots that I can stand," she muttered as she stood up, forcing the blush from appearing on her cheeks. Her eyes closed and she backed up a step, placing her hand on the keypad. It took only a moment for it to recognize her fingerprints and a moment longer to allow the door to slide open, revealing a lawn filled with bushes and trees, sunlight spilling through the thick foliage. She refused to look at him as she placed her foot along the slot the door had emerged from, keeping it open. "Go."

Kane could only stare at her in shock, a light shade of pink coloring his cheeks, but it quickly disappeared when he realized what she meant. "Kami…"

"I can't hold this for long, you idiot!" she snapped, keeping her eyes locked on the floor as she struck her heel against the doorframe, forcing the door to remain open.

Something soft touched her chin and she lifted her head to see Kane standing before her, gazing at her in a mixture of wonder and something else that she could never hope to recognize. Her lips parted as she began to protest but she was silenced when he leaned down and kissed her. A soft sigh escaped her and her free hand slid along the back of his neck to entangle in his hair, pulling him as close to her as she possibly could. The warmth of his body seemed to flow straight into her and when she felt his arms wrap around her waist she found that she wanted to stay that way forever. But…

Kami slowly pulled away, but this time locked gazes with him as she whispered, "Go."

"But what about you?" Kane's handsome face had softened and concern flickered in his eyes, but she paid them no heed.

Full lips pulling into a slight smirk, she tossed her head, sending her unruly bangs out of her eyes long enough to look him squarely in the eye, a challenge flaring in the dark depths. "I have some major ass to kick before I leave."

Kane could only smile and he shook his head, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek before he slowly began to back out of the building and into the sunshine. "Be careful. …And thank you."

Kami lifted a shoulder in a dismissive shrug, but her smile was warm, entirely different from the way she had been before. "Like I said," she whispered as he disappeared into the lawn that surrounded the laboratory. "You're the only one of those idiots that I can stand."


End file.
